July-October 2014

Features

15

NEOLIBERALISM? NO THANKS!

MELISSA KEITH

“I think we’re at a point in time where it’s particularly important that the labour and student movements learn from each other and communicate,” said Canadian Federation of Students (Nova Scotia) representative, at the time, Nick Stark. A report from the Halifax panel: “Unions. Capitalism. Young Workers.”

21

THE COMMUNITY MUST BENEFIT

JAMES NUGENT

A labour-community coalition called the Toronto Community Benefits Network is demanding that future transportation infrastructure projects provide employment opportunities and training to residents in low-income neighbourhoods.

Victoria, BC, postal worker Frances Maher says, “I had a lady give me a hug today. She was in her 70s and was very upset. We had been talking about the new community mailboxes.” The fight to save door-to-door delivery.

36

EDUCATE! ILLUSTRATE! ORGANIZE!

ROBIN FOLVIK

“When I’m drawing I’m deeply connected to the themes I’m working on,” says Graphic History Collective member Sam Bradd. “And afterwards, I understand the world around me in new ways.”

45

WRITING PICTURES, DRAWING STORIES

HASEENA MANEK

What does it mean to care for another person’s child when your own is far away? This is one of the questions answered in the comic book Kwentong Bayan: Labour of Love, about the experience of Filipina live-in caregivers in Toronto.

54

THE WORKERS’ HISTORY MUSEUM

DAVE BENNETT

It doesn’t have a building, but it has a big heart and a big mission. The Workers’ History Museum is dedicated to the preservation of workers’ history in the National Capital Region and Ottawa Valley.

OUR TIMES TALLY

It is very difficult to forge unity within Canada’s large and geographically diverse labour movement around environmental issues. Nonetheless, we need to try.

27

POETRY

MICHAEL MEAGHER

58REVIEW

ACADEMIC FREEDOM IN CONFLICT

Review by BRUCE SPARKS

Industry partners who try to influence the course of research or teaching at universities represent just one of many challenges to academic freedom that are explored in the book “Academic Freedom in Conflict”.

60COMMENTARY

AGAINST COLLECTIVE FORGETTING

STEPHEN ELLIOTT-BUCKLEY

Too many union members and staff don’t know that, for eight generations, unions have played a central role in creating a society with more justice for all.